Decision Making For Dummies

Chapter 22

Ten Secrets behind Ethical Decision-Making

In This Chapter

Eliminating obstacles to ethical decision-making

Uncovering expectations and behaviors that foster ethical breaches

Building a workplace environment that models and supports ethical decisions

Developing a formal code of ethics is an obvious way to communicate clearly what’s acceptable and what’s not. Yet words are one thing, and actions are another! Management style, character, procedures, and processes all send messages about what will and won’t be tolerated. In this chapter, I give you ten subtle signals you can look for to determine whether the unspoken messages in your workplace are leading decision-makers toward ethical or unethical decisions.

Employees Feel Respected and Happy

Never underestimate the power of respect, happiness, and high personal worth as predictors of ethical behavior. Employees who feel respected, valued, and happy tend to select ethics over self-interest. The power of peer-to-peer acknowledgement builds shared accountability and responsibility. Informal appreciation expressed as part of everyday working relationships conveys how valued someone is to the team and to the company, and happiness ...